Zoning Fight Ends

Deerfield Oks Beach House Plans

DEERFIELD BEACH — Residents still will have access to the beach when a dilapidated house at the northern entrance to the city on State Road A1A is fixed up.

Approval of a zoning ordinance variance by the City Commission Tuesday night was the culmination of a protracted legal battle by Walter and June Zamojski to upgrade their small, white clapboard house at 667 NE 21st Ave.

The Zamojskis, who developed the Emerald Isles timesharing units just south of the house, said they will convert the old house into four rental apartments or condo units by remodeling the house and adding a second story.

The public beach access is the Deerfield Beach half of a right-of-way, platted but not built as a street, running along the northern edge of the Zamojski property.

The other half is in Boca Raton, and that city has already deeded over their rights to a nearby condominium.

``I just want to make sure our public beach access is unimpaired,`` Susan B. Anthony, a Deerfield Beach resident for 20 years and great-niece of the famous feminist, told the commission.

Anthony was told the area will be landscaped but not blocked, according to the plan. Commissioners said they were pleased that the building and grounds at the entrance to the city will be fixed up.

``I`ve been looking for an improvement, and I think this is a beautiful improvement and I`m very happy with it,`` said Commissioner Ernest Visco.

But commissioners blocked the Zamojskis` plans 2 1/2 years ago when they first sought upgrading of the lot from single- to multi-family zoning.

City officials then argued that the zoning would not be in keeping with the character of the rest of the area, even though the property, which borders on the northern city limits, rests virtually in the shadows of several large, Boca Raton condominiums.

In a court decision rendered last December, a judge ordered the city to upgrade the zoning. But then the Zamojskis` plans ran into trouble with the city`s Planning and Zoning Board last January because of structure setback requirements from the nonexistent street platted for the right-of-way. The lot is only 43 feet wide, said J. Mark Leaf, city director of planning.

``This is the type of case a professor usually gives students in architecture school,`` the Zamojskis` attorney, Nancy Stroud, told commissioners.

``You could build a 10-foot wide single-family home or an 8-foot wide multi- family residence if you didn`t consider any variances,`` Leaf told commissioners.

Leaf said the Zamojskis changed some of their plans and offered to turn over the deeds to three beachfront parcels of land to the city. Leaf recommended approval of the variance because the new plans also included ample parking for residents of the planned structure.

``That`s the kind of thing that really impacts on a neighborhood,`` Leaf told commissioners before the variance was approved unanimously.

Walter Zamojski said he was glad the long battle was finally over.

``I got exactly what I wanted 2 1/2 years ago,`` he said. ``All we did was spend a lot of money on legal fees, and so did the city.``